Posts from Hudson Park Library

Edith Wharton is 150 years old on January 24, 2012, still alive in her consistently popular novels. She lived at 7 Washington Square North in Greenwich Village, as well as other locations in New York City.

Khalil Gibran’s book The Prophet is one of the best selling books of all time and was written while Gibran lived in the Village. Gibran may be known as the national poet of Lebanon, but he lived the final 20 years of his life here, at 51 West 10th Street in New York City, among other places. He died

If you are of a certain age, you may be familiar with Edwin Arlington Robinson from a Simon and Garfunkel song, "Richard Cory." The words of the song were changed somewhat from what Robinson wrote but it still ended with the same shocking, brutal conclusion. Here’s the whole poem:

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked

The story behind Tinkers by Paul Harding is as inspirational as many novels.

A quiet, contemplative novel which imagines the last days of a man interspersed with scenes from the death of his epileptic father, it was rejected by many publishers before being picked up by a small press.

Community bookstores championed the work and Tinkers became the first independently published novel to win the Pulitzer Prize (2009) since

Most of the writers who ended up in the Village came from the small towns of America, but some came from overseas. Ford Madox Ford, an Englishman, lived for a time at 10 Fifth Avenue. His birthday is December 17th.

Willa Cather's birthday is December 7th. Although famous for writing about the Midwest, especially Nebraska, Cather spent much of her life and career in New York City's Greenwich Village. She took up residence at several locations in the Village including 60 Washington Square, 82 Washington Place, 5 Bank Street, and the Hotel Grosvenor.

There is something about a photograph that speaks of permanence, but what it captures is the quintessence of the ephemeral — a moment in time.

Drew Martin has captured a neighborhood in time — Greenwich Village, April 2011 — in his current show at Hudson Park Library: UNDER THE HOOD: New York. Over 250 black and white photographs with personal comments document the people, pets, and places around Hudson Park Library.

Witch-hazel. Many plants have evocative names, but few can beat witch-hazel. It sounds magical, although as an old-fashioned treatment for insect bites, maybe it is less than magic, but its scent always makes you feel cooler and fresher.

What is magical about witch-hazel is that it is, right now, on March 1st, in full bloom. The first tree (after all, it's still winter) to flower, witch-hazel does not have particularly showy blooms. Its yellow pales compared to daffodils or forsythia, but it

Fusiliers: The Saga of a British Redcoat Regiment in the American Revolution by Mark Urban should be required reading for all aspiring historians on the American Revolutionary War. Many older historians should also take note of this fine book. Mark Urban purports to tell the story of one British regiment, the 23rd, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, but it is really about the whole British expereince in the war that the book concerns itself. While focusing on this one illustrious corps the author provides us a means to evaluate

For any manmade thing to survive for over five hundred years is an amazing. For it to be a Jewish book in Europe is a miracle.

Geraldine Brooks tells the story of such a miraculous happening in People of the Book. Join the Hudson Park Book Discussion Saturday, July 10, from 10:30 to 12 noon and we will discuss the fascinating journey of this book, an illuminated Haggadah, a prayer book used during Passover. You can